WK: Power of Nature - S3 - Episodes 01 - 02 - All Discord Breaks Loose
by Taismo-89
Summary: Collab with Soul Rider. Season 3's premiere episode. Martin and Chris feel the effects of their last encounter with Chaos. Hermia makes a hard decision: asking her own sister for help. Meanwhile, Amelia Cutter returns along with Klaus Donata and create an new army of predators. Reminding: WK and its original characters belong to PBS, 9 Story and Kratt Bros Company.


On the west coast of America, the Wild Kratts were taking a little r&r for a month after the Chaos fiasco. The towels were out and beach umbrellas were up on that clear, warm morning. Yep, nothing but relaxing and taking it down a notch.

The crew was playing on the warm, sandy shore. Sam, now an official member of the team, was in the water. Not far from the shark mutant, Martin was floating on his back.

"Nothing like a calm moment out at sea," he commented. "Nothing else to it."

"You bet, bro. A little normal life is good for everyone," Chris replied.

"Uh… define "normal"," Sam commented, chuckling. Then, he was hit in the back of his head by a volleyball. "Ow!"

"Whoops! Sorry!" Bite-Size called, waving at him.

"Nice throw, Brownie Boy." Koki patted her fella in the back. "This arm's now stronger than steel. But, hey… just between us, don't you miss hangin' upside down in your bat box?"

"Got used to the hammocks. Not my fault," Bites guaranteed. He was now deeply enjoying his human self. "I think…" This placed a doubt inside his head: could he be… losing his "battiness" with this excess of human form?

"Hey, Martin... " Chris noticed something on his head. "What's that?"

"Huh? What's what?"

"Hold still a sec." Martin stood up in the water. Chris looked at the back of his head. He gasped and backed away a bit. "M-Martin..."

"Chris! Your hair..." Martin saw also something that surprised him.

"And so is yours!" Both brothers had a black stripe in their hair. The brothers gulped. This sure wasn't a good sign.

* * *

"Oh, I feared this could happen," Ventus admitted, inspecting the black stripes. "Remember when Chaos whipped you when you faced him a while ago?"

"How could I forget? I still feel the pain," Chris admitted.

"Now that you bring that up, my Kratt Sense hasn't been going off since then," Martin stated.

"And my prophetic abilities are getting all jumbled in my head."

"Well, somehow, it happened to you both like what happened to me 10,000 years ago. He cursed you both… and the first signal of it started appearing now."

"He what?! It's what?!" Martin gasped. A cold breeze invaded the HQ.

"Now bros, calm down," Ventus tried to advert. "The effects of Chaos' curse appear if you show anger or worry at extreme level. Trust me, it happened to me too."

"Even the slightest sign of panicking?" Chris asked.

"Hm… more intense panicking, actually. Still, careful."

"Is there a way to lift the curse?" Aviva asked.

"Hm..." Ventus thought. "I don't think I have the answer. But perhaps, mom does." He opened a portal for the team. "Let's go."

* * *

Meanwhile, Amelia, hidden in a deserted house in the middle of the woods, worked on some experiment. Someone approached the place.

" _Neine_! It's still not good enough!" she complained, throwing her plan away. "For all of these plans, MAGIC is needed. And I don't have access to any fountain of it!" She collapsed on the couch nearby, and Otto approached her.

"Calm now, _mein_ master. You're a genius, remember? You can build your army once more. After all, not only in that timeline you had access to such valuable critters."

"But I used magic to fulfill my objectives. More than simple science, Otto. Whenever will I find a simple hint of magic in this middle of nowhere?" Someone observed the dictator, and then, decided to knock on the door. "UGH! Who could that be?"

"I believe this is yours, ma'am." It was Klaus Donata, giving her back the plan she threw away. "Forgive me for interrupting your lament, but as I analyzed it, I noticed a small problem here. Properly named… the Wild Kratts."

" _Ja_?" Amelia was charmed. Never before she saw such a good-looking man.

"Master?" Otto asked.

"I believe I have the answer to your problems. If you just let me in, I'll tell you what I mean," he said, with a poisonous smile. Amelia agreed, as she saw Klaus removing his coat and throwing on Otto's head. This made the scientist chuckle a little.

* * *

In her temple, Hermia looked at the brothers' hair in worry.

"This is strong, dark magic," she muttered. "I'm afraid that only with similar magic we can remove it."

"Similar?" Koki repeated in concern. "I don't think we can just walk up to someone with dark magic and ask to remove a curse. We saw what this can do, and it's not good."

"There could be no other way." Mina and Elsa nearly shuddered, seeing a strange fury in their mother's eyes. "I believe… Only _she_ can undo this curse."

"Mom, you're not suggesting..." Ventus gulped.

"Yes… my sister Eris," Hermia sighed. "If she can't do it… none of us can."

"We don't really have a choice, do we?" Chris questioned. "Even though she WAS pretty responsible for many things we suffered since we became Guardians."

"Corrupting people…"

"Manipulating minds..."

"Creating chocolate rain without whipped cream..." Martin pointed out. The team stared at him. "What?"

"We all know the danger she caused in the past… but she could be our only chance," Hermia said in a serious tone. "I will take you to the statue, and Mina, you must use the scepter to release her."

"Uh… mom, the scepter was practically dismounted for us to defeat Chaos, remember?"

"Maybe… but the Crystals remained locked up safely." Luna came flying in, a bag in her talons. She called for other critter messengers to help her bring a golden chest in.

"Try to make her see your point if she plays hard on you again," Hermia alerted. "And most of all… don't let her get to you with Darkness."

"Don't worry. We won't," Mina assured, taking her tiara out of the bag. With certainty of their success, Hermia led them to the Mystical Garden.

* * *

Ven felt shivers go down his spine at seeing the petrified form of Eris herself. Elsa hid behind David.

"Okay… guys, keep your medallions close, just in case," Mina warned, before they activated all their powers. With the Crystals, the team entered their Crown Forms. In a flash of rainbow light, the stone shell on the goddess broke.

Eris breathed hard, then yawned.

"Wow, here I was believing you would never let me out of there!" she first complained. "Boy… it felt like even my beautiful goddess skeleton was turning into stone." Then, she looked at the brothers' hair. "Let me guess… Chaos?"

The team stared at her.

"What? As any GOOD mother, I like to see my children's work." She threw a stare of disapproval at Hermia.

"I will pretend I didn't hear that... older sister," Mother Nature said sternly, her eyes narrowed.

"Sure, sure. But tell me: did you Guardians just send him to the depths of the Underworld AGAIN?"

"No… this time. Mina locked him deep inside his newest incarnation," Ventus said. "Let's just say, in his third try to take over Gaia's treasure, we pretty much put him back in his place."

"Look, I know you ARE really upset with me, won't lie seeing the wrinkles of anger in your eyes, but can we please get to the point?" Eris asked, taking a step forward, but tripping. "Wow… my legs are pretty weak, even though I don't walk much."

"Your son whipped my brothers and now, they're suffering the same curse I went through. Can you solve it or not?" Ventus asked, impatiently.

"Well, it does look my powers are utterly weak, possible due to all the time I've been stuck here in my *brrr* so-cold stone prison, but since I don't have much choice..."

"I don't know… she sounds TOO calm..." Elsa whispered.

"It's normal, I guess. She was stuck in that stone prison for a long time. Let's get back to the Tortuga. Maybe some fresh air can help her feel better," David suggested. Then, his Creaturepod rang. Sam appeared on the hologram.

"Guys… we have a problem. A big, dark, epic proporcional problem!" He showed on the screen… Zach Varmitech with Chaos' powers?

"Oh, boy..." Martin gulped.

* * *

Amelia was around preparing her army of new minions, with tons of shots filled of formulas she developed. Klaus Donata also did his part, preparing mind-control collars.

"One more to go," Klaus warned, pointing to the newest Predator. "Your genetic work is really impressive, _Frau_ Cutter," he complemented. "If mother and I had access to this technology, turning animals into clothes would be utterly easy."

"I thank you for your compliments, my comrade," the geneticist replied. "I admit returning to my home timeline is very enjoyable now. Long story, though. And it does impress me of your knowledge and ability of speaking German."

"You do learn some things when you're far away from your family.

 _"Ever since I was a boy, I dreamt about success. I trained and helped my mother in all I could. She loved me, and raised me to be the well-succeeded man I am today._

 _"But one day… ugh, I can't remember. Something happened… and then, I don't know how long I've been asleep. I found myself in some foreign country. So I took the first flight home, and here I am."_

"Hmm… interesting, _herr_ Klaus," Amelia wondered. "But tell me: how exactly do these collars work?"

"With simply the push of a button." He showed her the remote, and pressed the button, showing the immediate response. Amelia smirked evilly, imagining the terror they could cause.

* * *

The team reunited at the Varmitech mansion.

"Come on, I really didn't do that on purpose!" Zach tried to explain to the fierce looking shark mutant and the rest of the team. "I don't even know how I did that!"

"He's telling' the truth. For once, he is," Mina analyzed his expression. He was sweating in pure fear. "Although I locked Chaos inside his mind, he's still trying to take over again."

"Geez, doesn't he ever give up?" Chris complained. As he placed his hand on the desk, thorny vines appeared, making him gasp.

"Let me guess, your version of uncontrolled powers?" Aviva wandered.

"I guess..." he gulped.

"Back to topic, Zach can use Chaos' powers now?" Koki asked.

"Uh, I have my own questions: who is this "Chaos" and who is that lady?" the villain asked, pointing at Eris.

"You look like him…" Eris observed the inventor. "You even talk like him... but somehow, it does not feel like him."

"Hey, what do you mean exactly?"

" **Mommy..."** Chaos' voice echoed from somewhere. Zach screamed like a little girl.

"What was that?!" he shrieked.

"It's Chaos! At least, his voice," Mina recognized.

"Don't tell me..." David muttered. He looked down at the pale skinned man's shadow. Zach turned to see two glowing eyes staring at him, and shrieked, hiding behind the team.

"Well, Zach now have reasons to fear his own shadow," Jimmy tried to joke.

 **"Speak for yourself, Pyce,"** Chaos seemed to taunt. Jimmy yelped. Zach's shadow seemed to be moving on its own! It flew out the window of the mansion.

"Okay, that is officially the freakiest thing I've ever seen. At least, it's on the list," Bite-Size commented, as he took a look inside his bat box in his bat form, as it was laying on the desk. "Wow, it's filled with cobwebs."

"He's still trying to take control of the planet?" Koki questioned. "Gee, Zach's sure a short-spirited person."

"Hey! I still hear you, you know."

"Let's get that shadow before he repeats what he did to the Tortuga last time, or worse!" Aviva yelled. The team agreed, running after Chaos, while Zach shivered in shock. Eris, the only one who stayed, could only watch them leave.

"I don't… I don't understand… I feel so... strange..." The goddess of discord felt her head spinning. Zach instinctively supported her.

"Wait, why did I do that?" he questioned himself. The Zachbots just shrugged.

* * *

Aviva, Koki, Jimmy, Elsa, David and Sam were getting ready to find Chaos. Bites arrived a little later with his bat box. Elsa picked up a glass container.

"You never know..." She commented.

"Are you sure you don't want us to go with you?" Martin asked Aviva.

"Trust me, guys. It'll be better this way. We don't want your situation to get worse," Koki commented, pointing to the stripes on their heads.

"Be careful, _querida_. I don't want him to do something worse with you." Ventus gave his beloved a peck on the lips.

"I will." Aviva left with the others, and Zach arrived with Eris.

"Wow… what's wrong with her?" Ventus asked. "And why did I ask that?"

"Because you care. Simple as that," Chris commented.

"Touché," the Kratt in white agreed. A buzz cam entered the HQ, coming from Varmitech mansion.

"Hmph. And you say I constantly spy on you, huh?"

"We don't do this all the time. There are also the fish cams," Martin commented, receiving a slap on the back of his head, showing he was not helping.

"We had to be alert. This situation is way worse than anything you, Donita, or even Gourmand can cause, Zach," Chris said. "We gotta stay alert, or all discord breaks loose."

"Huh?" Martin looked at him.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist."

"Mind if we stick around?" Klaus's voice was heard from outside. Zach shrieked and hid behind Aviva's station, as the brothers came out to see what was going on. They saw in front of the HQ, an army of dangerous Predators, led by two familiar faces.

"Amelia Cutter!" Ventus exclaimed. "And Mr. Casanova!"

"Well well, if it isn't the birdbrain of the trio," Klaus taunted. "Time for a little payback from our last encounter."

"Well said. After all, you have played with _mi querida_ 's feelings," the Kratt in white growled. "A crime I can't forgive."

"Eh, really? A guy like you and a girl like her? What has the magical world come to?"

"Says the guy who's single." His brothers held in their laughs. Klaus growled in fury.

"You're going to be roadkill when I'm done with you!"

"Hah, right. Let's just see you try." Ventus readied his blade. It was a wonderful sword, with silver marks all around it.

"Oooh..." The bros' eyes widened.

"Cool, eh? Just one of the few things I kept in my room back home."

Klaus grabbed a sword of his own. " _En garde!"_

" _Allez_ , you heartbreaker!"

*BG music: The Prodigy - Omen*

Klaus made the first move, attempting to thrust his sword forward. However, Ven made his sword go up.

"Ha! What was that?" the former Air Guardian mocked. "Uncle Ares would say that was horrible!"

"Well, tell your uncle that he should eat his words!" Donata pulled back, as they continued fighting. The brothers faced the army of Predators by Amelia's side, using their weapons.

"You're going down, Kratts!"

"Not today, we're not!" Martin proclaimed, as he kept the beasts from biting him. "Geez, what did she give them to eat?"

"Nothing good, I fear," Chris commented. Even after blocking one monster, more just followed.

"Ugh, I don't think I can't handle for longer!" Martin felt his sword nearly falling from his hand.

"Me neither!" Chris saw his hands were starting to go sore from holding the bow and shooting arrows. Then, he saw something that made him gasp. "Ventus!".

"Don't worry. I can handle him," Ventus said, confident of his victory.

"No! Behind you!" Martin yelled, seeing the situation as well.

"Huh?" Ventus was knocked on the floor by a mind-controlled creature. He gasped as he faced the beast.

"Stop!" Chris pleaded. The young Donata raised his sword over the cornered Ventus. All he could do was leave a mark in Ventus' arm.

"Ow!"

"Bro!" Martin and Chris gasped.

"This is the end, birdbrain!" Klaus shouted, as he trapped Ventus on the floor.

Chris and Martin felt something snap inside themselves. Some kind of… wrath.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" his little brothers yelled in fury. Thorny vines and ice spikes shot from the ground. Klaus quickly moved away, letting his sword fall. But what was so different about them from previous times were that the vines were black and the ice was a tainted grey.

"*gasp* Retreat! RETREAAAT!" Amelia ordered the army, that looked as scared as she and Klaus were.

The brothers gave no notice at what they did, as the young Donata and the German scientist escaped with his army of critters to cause havoc. Ventus stood frozen in shock. The bros' glaring eyes were ice blue and toxic green.

* * *

The rest of the team looked around to find Chaos. It couldn't be that hard to find a fleeing shadow without an owner. Could it?

"Okay, guys. Keep your eyes open for any signs of shadows," Aviva warned.

"There's shadows everywhere," David said. "This is a park, you guys!"

"Just look for one that's not moving THAT much with the wind," Aviva commented.

"There!" Jimmy pointed at a moving spot of darkness. He tried catching it, but ended up bumping his head in a tree.

"He's too fast!" Koki exclaimed.

"Or we're too slow," Jimmy commented.

"There it is!" David tried catching him with a lightning attack.

"No, he's there!" Sam moved his shark tail, bumping it on a nearby tree.

"No, I see him!" Aviva attacked a branch with her tessens. Elsa observed everyone attacking in different directions. Then, she looked up to see Chaos was causing this, moving in different directions, confusing the team.

"Oh, for Hera's sake!" Elsa said in irritation. She froze everything with her time power, and easily slammed the glass over Chaos. Time returned to normal. "Gotcha."

The shadow slammed against the glass, but couldn't get it to topple over.

"Wow..." Aviva commented. "Who knew something so simple could be used like this?"

"The Kratt Bros," Jimmy commented. Koki nodded in agreement.

"Phew, been a while since I used my magic." Elsa wiped her sweating forehead. "Need a little more practice."

"That's my sister," David commented.

"She's my sister too," Mina corrected.

"I knew her longer."

"I'm actually related to her."

"Children, you're both great siblings. Now mind helping us keep You-Know-Who trapped?" Sam interrupted.

"Leave it to me." Koki sealed the glass container with her fire abilities. "I wonder if the bros are doing fine all by themselves..."

* * *

Ven was paralyzed by the ice blue and toxic green eyes that stared at him.

"B-bros? T-they're gone… I-it's okay..." he tried to take them back to their senses, shivering as he talked. His fear suddenly disappeared, since in a blink, their eyes were back to normal.

"Ugh… what happened? Everything went dark for a few seconds," Chris said, supporting his aching head with a hand.

"V-Ven… th-this is Darkness?" Martin stammered.

"Maybe even worse, bro… I fear Chaos' power will possibly unleash… THEM," Ven gulped.

"Who?" Chris asked. The eldest brother stood up and flinched from the wound on his arm.

"I'll explain later. For now, I'm glad the army retreated. It'll give you time to calm down." Ven sounded really serious.

Chris and Martin still didn't know much about their past lives, but if Ven guaranteed that, they thought it could be better now to trust him about that.

* * *

Amelia was not happy about the situation at all, as she saw her Predators shivering in fear.

"How did they do that? How did they expel _meine armee_ so fast?"

"I don't know. It looked like some kind of… forbidden magic," Klaus hypothesized. "I have never seen them display such power before. And their eyes… there was something… dark about them."

"Hm… dark, eh?" Amelia wondered. "Interesting..." She got curious about the incident. "We should leave our army ready for a second attack. We may have lost this battle, but not the war," she proclaimed.

"This attitude is admirable," Klaus complimented. "I am glad we met, _frau_ Cutter." Amelia blushed in response, and Otto merely growled, a little jealous.

* * *

As the rest of the team returned to the Tortuga with the trapped Demigod, where Hermia was waiting for them, they saw Eris trying to undo his curse. However, she was sweating a lot from channelizing her powers.

"You were attacked by Klaus and Amelia's army?" David asked.

"I'm glad they retreated. This was NOT the best time," Ventus commented, flinching about the wound on his arm.

"Well, she always find the worst opportunity to attack." Elsa saw Ventus's wound. "Hm... nothing that a bandage can't cover."

"*sigh* I'm exhausted..." the goddess of Discord huffed. "I can't believe this is happening..."

"Well, at least Chaos didn't knock the HQ down again," Koki commented.

"Uh, guys..." Jimmy noticed, seeing the fly cam's recorded video from Varmitech Mansion. One showed Chaos doing something as Eris observed him. Something with his… shadow?

"Th-that's...!" Eris gasped.

"A power leech spell!" Ven informed. "Used to absorb energy from the nearest lifeforms. It's a forbidden spell that was ruled out of practice."

"Wow… but how did he ever get this kind of magic?" Mina wondered.

"Thanks to me..." Eris stared blankly. "But… never I would expect he'd… use it on me..."

"Wow…" Mina saw the expression on the goddess of Discord's face.

"I-I taught him all the dark spells as well as my own magic. He always said that he'll put his lessons towards getting the world for me when I..."

"Become the rightful Mother Nature?" Chris asked. "We know the story. We know you ran away after Hermia was crowned Gaia's heir."

"I… I thought he loved me..." Eris felt like crying. "I thought he understood me when I took him in as my own.

 _"I found him near the Underworld. He was just a boy, and didn't have a caring family, so he ran away._

 _"At that time, I was still simply Eiri. I saw him in the same situation I was: alone in the big, bad world, that looked like it hated me. I took him with me, and taught him everything I learned with Hades. After many years, he grew up into a fine Demi-God. And you know the rest._ "

The team went silent, sympathizing the goddess. Even Ven and David gave her looks of sympathy.

"Sister, I had no idea…" Hermia also felt a little bad for her big sister.

"Okay, Chaos! You caused enough problems for today. Now undo the curse on my brothers!" Ventus turned to the Demigod in rage.

 **"Sorry, but I specialize in casting curses, not removing them,"** the shadow replied.

"And apologize to your mom. You were cheating! Using someone else, someone that really loved you! That is not the kind of retribution any of us would have given their own mothers."

" **Let me out!"** the shadow hollered. " **Mommy, Chaos loves you. Please, help your baby..."**

"Hm… where have I seen this before?" Chris joked.

"Hey… I'm still here, you know?" Zach complained.

"Fooled me once… shame on you… But FOOL ME TWICE..." Eris simply turned around. "No… Way." Chaos seemed to kowtow in fear, as Eris gave the container a small hint of her still-low magic, trapping him inside a shadow cage.

She shook the cage as fast as she could, taking back her magic.

"Ah, that's better," she commented, feelings her powers return, and seeing Zach's shadow return to its position, as a signal that Chaos's part had been removed.

"Wow… that was pretty cool… I guess," David commented. Hermia had to agree with him.

"He used a lot of your power. It'll still take time for you to fully recover," Mina told Eris.

"I believe some friends on the other side can help with him," Eris proclaimed, feeling power enough to open a portal to the Underworld. Chaos was freed from the glass container and dragged by shadow hands.

"This reminds me a movie," Jimmy commented.

"Hey, guys, Clarissa informed that she's coming later. She, Susan and Christine were in some kind of girl reunion." Bite-Size arrived with his bat box, clean and painted again. Then, he saw the goddess of Discord and the tension around. "Uh… did I miss anything?"

"You don't know how much, Bites," Koki commented. "Oh, you cleaned and repainted the bat box?"

"Yeah… just an assurance that my "bat side" is still awake," Bites admitted. Koki chuckled.

"Wild Kratts! You are surrounded!" Amelia's voice was heard.

"It's Cutter!" Elsa exclaimed.

"Aw, not again!" Ventus grunted.

"At least, this time, you're not on minor number," Sam pointed out. "Together, we can deal with them."

Hermia smiled at his attitude, followed by the team.

"Sister… allow me to make amends. Let me help you… like they helped me now," Eris begged on her knees.

"Things HAVE changed," Hermia said with hope in her voice. "You have changed..." She cupped her sister's face filled with tears. "You really have changed." The team was surprised of seeing Hermia embracing Eris, and still, a little touched.

"WILD KRATTS!" they heard Amelia's voice. "Come and fight, you cowards! Or else the whole world will know about the Nature Guardians' cowardice!"

"That's IT! No one calls the Wild Kratts "cowards"! Prepare for battle!" Aviva ordered, conjuring her tessens.

"Got it," David said. He summoned his crossbow. Sam showed his claws.

"No, Sam… you stay here," David told his friend. "We need you and the girls inside in case any of they try sneaking in."

"Oh, no. We're coming with you. If Klaus found a way to injure Ventus, he must be very powerful now."

"Oh, he's just a normal, nose-in-the-air human that uses mind controlled creatures," Ven said, preparing his sword. "Nothing I can't deal with."

The team, minus Sam, ran outside to fight. The Guardians brought out their weapons and Mina and Elsa prepared their powers.

"Everyone! Try getting just the collars!" Chris ordered. "That'll break the mind control!"

"Attack!" The Tortuga's door opened and the team started the attack. The two forces collided. The Guardians were able to break off most of the collars, as Ventus and Klaus attacked each other.

"Surrender, you birdbrain! You were lucky last time, but this time I will rip you apart."

"Yeah, like I would do that, you casanova!"

Amelia fought against David and Elsa.

"How do you like my new partner? No doubts with him _meine armee_ will dominate this planet!"

"Under our dead bodies they will!" David commented. Amelia barely missed an arrow from his crossbow.

Mina and Elsa brought the confused and no-longer controlled new Predators and trapped them inside the Garage.

"Now you wait here till we get back," Mina teased. "And please don't chew on any of the inventions."

"I highly doubt they will," Elsa guaranteed, pointing at Eris that trapped the creatures in a shadow cage.

Klaus and Ventus rumbled against each other, until both swords fell on the floor. The two stared at each other panting.

"Give up?"

"Never..."

Amelia was thrown right in Klaus's direction. Right on that moment, Martin froze and removed the last collar.

"The last one is free. Aviva, Sam, get to work."

The two of them saluted, and prepared to undo Amelia's work and turn the predators back to normal.

In a cowardly action, Amelia threw Klaus's sword in Ventus' direction. Chris stood in front, protecting him with a crystal wall.

"Nice try, but you're not leaving a scratch on him this time." Chris's eyes glowed. However, the the sword missed the wall, and wounded his cheek. Chris flinched in pain and stared at the pair with that toxic green glare.

Amelia gasped. Never had she witnessed such a power-filled stare with such anger.

"Retreat again! We will be back, even stronger!" The two villains ran with what's left of their army (only four).

"Chris, easy dude," Ven said. Chris breathed in and out, as he placed a hand in his wounded cheek.

"Woo-hoo! They're running away!" Koki celebrated.

"We did it! Yeah!" Martin cheered, lifting her hand as the two jump in their victory. But then, she yelped and pulled away.

"Martin, your hands are freezing!" Koki exclaimed. "It's like you dipped them in ice water!"

"Ouch!" Aviva took her hands off Chris's shoulders as she felt something prick her skin. "Chris, are you wearing something sharp under there?"

"These are the effects of Chaos's curse on them. I fear Ice and Thorn can be unleashed," Ventus said.

"Who?" the team wondered. Hermia and Eris went tense.

"Right, I still owe an explanation.

 _"In the past, Aqua and Terra got into a fight with each other, and their corrupted powers generated consciences of Darkness. They were named Ice and Thorn, and immediately considered to be very dangerous. And so... Mom had me lock them away inside them."_

"Hermia made you do that?"

"Didn't even question. Just did what I was told to do." Hermia nodded. Eris observed, not saying a word.

"Is Darkness really that evil?" Martin asked unsurely.

"If Chaos and Eris caused such trouble..." Chris covered his mouth with his hand. "No offense."

"They're that powerful?" Mina asked in fear.

"As powerful as Black Storm, or possibly even stronger. But either way, they are a menace that must be contained." Ventus stared at the stripes in his little brothers' hair.

* * *

Amelia swore in German as she ripped all her plans, furious for losing to the Wild Kratts again.

"Calm down, calm down, _frau_ Cutter. All this can hurt your delicate throat." Klaus asked.

"Delicate?" Amelia stared at him. "I do not follow, _mein freund_."

"Amelia… never have I witnessed such beauty mixed with strength in my life." Klaus caressed her face. "I am more than ready to help you rebuild an army and defeat those meddling Wild Kratts, that only caused pain to me and my mother."

"Only if it helps me get rid of that Genosharp brat and his brat sister." She shoved him off playfully, as if… flirting with him?

" _Meine liebe_ , I am in your service." Klaus knelt in front of her. The young Donata gently took her hand and lightly kissed it. The scientist blushed again.

* * *

As the sun began to set, Chris leaned against the rail of the upper level, looking up at the peachy sky. Aviva and the team released the critters once they were returned to normal. By that time, Clarissa returned to the HQ, followed by the Kratt Twins.

"I'm glad things worked well," he commented. "I think with time, Eris and Hermia will set everything between them behind."

"Me too. After all, it is never too late to make amends with people you care about. Even troublemaker-previously-antagonists. Right, Ventus?" Martin asked.

"Yeah..." Ventus chuckled. "If only Eris had a teeny, tiny bit more of her strength so she could..."

"She'll gain everything back with time, Mina said so." Then, they saw a portal nearby. "Speaking of her..."

"Hey, guys." Mina appeared. "Mom and her officially made amends! And she sent this as a thank you gift for you two."

"Cool!" Martin exclaimed.

"Hey! New jackets!" Chris exclaimed, holding up a jacket that was some shades darker than his usual one. It also had two lines crossing his torso instead of two thick ones on his sides. Martin got an identical one, but in darker blues.

"And are those earrings?" Martin asked. One was a pearl and the other was a jade.

"She said they carry a bit of her magic, and can help you prevent possible corruption."

"Cool! But… we never wore these things before."

"Relax. It'll only hurt for a moment, then everything will be fine again," Koki assured. With her help, and a few seconds of stinging, the earrings were in.

"They'll darken when there's signs of Darkness in you both," Mina explained. "It's the least that can be done for now. Since we can't get rid of it immediately, we have to find the best way to control it."

"Agreed," Chris said. Then, he noticed a bit of worry on his sister's face. "What's wrong?"

"Well… even though they made amends, I think it'll take long for Mom to fully apologize to her. In baby steps, they'll get there... I hope."

* * *

Luna flied back to the temple.

"I heard the good news. I am glad you and her made amends."

"Yes… but I am still concerned… about, you know…" Hermia admitted. Little did they knew is that Eris was hearing everything they were saying.

"I must not lose her once more. Not to that horrible thing..." Mother Nature muttered. Eris gasped, seeing a stripe of Hermia's hair turning white. "Darkness... Why must it exist?"

"Oh, dear..." Eris muttered, worried of what could come soon. "What have I done?"


End file.
